August 12, 2011
Reflection on TEC
Modeling Jesus . . .
By ZOE CANNON (Sacred Heart Church, Vincennes)
Communication — the human connection — is the key to reaching out to others, especially in sharing the word of God. The Teens Encounter Christ Movement has been in South-west Indiana for 20 years. In 1991, Rick Etienne, who was the Youth and Young Adult Minister for the Diocese of Evansville, contacted people from the Diocese of Owensboro, and also from the neighboring Diocese of Belleville in southern Illinois, for information about TEC. Leaders from Western Kentucky had also been meeting with the committee from Evansville for many months before the first weekend was planned. The lay director for TEC #1 was Jane Leingang who had been active in the TEC movement for several years in the Peoria Diocese before moving to Evansville.
Fast forward 20 years to the weekend of July 30- Aug. 1, 2011. During this 77th TEC weekend, a group from Louis-ville, Ky., joined us to begin the formation and planning for a TEC Movement in their diocese. It was amazing to provide that same opportunity for leading young people closer to Christ, as had been shared with our Christian Community in 1991.
A community will thrive with good leadership only if its members know why it exists and can communicate that with others. The first followers of Jesus assumed that leadership meant power and glory. Two of them explicitly requested positions of authority at Jesus’ left and right. Jesus informed the disciples that greatness is not defined as “lording it over others” but as serving others, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve . . .” (Mk 10:45). Jesus modeled the style of leadership he taught when he washed the disciples’ feet and called them to play the servant role for others.
The sense of family and serving others was a big part of TEC #77. The lay directors for the weekend were Sarah Hurt and Brad Tretter; cousins, they shared the joy of their family connection with all of us that weekend. Rick Etienne’s daughter was a participant, which added to the nostalgia and importance of the family link. And in addition to the four people from Louisville, there was a Rose Hulman student from Minnesota who joined us. She has been very involved in her home diocese with TEC, so sharing her ideas will also help us grow.
After the closing Mass, a beautiful blessing was given by spiritual directors, Father Jason Gries and Father Gary Kaiser, to send off the group from Kentucky with success for their planning, and we blessed three young men heading off to seminary this fall, two young women preparing to enter religious life, and one deacon who will be ordained a priest next summer. TEC is a great gift for our universal Church. In Christ-ian brotherhood and sisterhood, we learn to love in the fullness of God’s grace, as we foster vocations for our diocese.
The basic principles of God’s word and plan of salvation begin in the home. In the Old Testament, the home and the Temple were the most important places of worship and celebration. Jesus made the home not only a center for worship but also his base for evangelization. Today our homes seem less significant. We are an extremely mobile society, constantly chan-ging residences and jobs. We even eat on the run, picking up “fast foods” at drive-through windows. We have made our homes a layover for changing clothes and sleeping.
Our technology has made it possible for an independent life-style unprecedented in history. Our dominant forms of media have changed the way we communicate. But if used properly, these changes can enhance our ability to become the kind of communities that matter for our world. We are capable to develop networks across time and space that help to deepen the sense that Christ-ians are united with one another in a common identity, mission and hope. Still, in this media frenzy, Christian leaders must remain articulate. In the book of Acts we encounter what becomes a major narrative de-vice: speeches. The dialogue points to the basic importance of clarifying the faith practices we live. The leaders of the church thought it necessary to teach the fundamentals of their communal life, to know why it exists at all, and to be able to articulate to others this reason for its existence. We must develop ways of teaching new people who join the community, so that there is a transmission of and continuity in identity and mission.
The Diocese of Evansville is our Church home. This Christ-ian community is similar to an extended family and we know, “there’s no place like home.” Sharing the gifts God has given to us is the ultimate thank you. Our hearts ring out with the words of Jesus when one day, after speaking to the crowds from Simon’s boat, he invited the Apostle to “put out into the deep” for a catch: Peter and his first companions trusted Christ’s words, and cast the nets. “When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish” (Lk 5:4-6). These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). God is with us! Amen!